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You are > Home > Q: I work in a building supplies company but due to the downturn in the construction industry, there is a lot of talk in our workplace about redundancies.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Q: I work in a building supplies company but due to the downturn in the construction industry, there is a lot of talk in our workplace about redundancies.
I was the last employee to be taken on 2 years ago will I be the first to be made redundant? Have I enough employment service to get redundancy?
A: What you are referring to is the “Last in first out” rule. Although many people think that the “Last in first out” rule is a strict legal rule and must be followed in all circumstances, this is not actually the case.
You should first check your contract of employment or other written terms and conditions of employment. When it comes to selecting which employees are to be made redundant, an employer must, under the law, apply selection criteria that are reasonable and he must also apply those selection criteria fairly. “Last in first out” may apply in your case but not necessarily.
If your contract of employment sets out what criteria are to be used in making a selection for redundancy then your employer should follow this criteria. For example your contract may well state that the employer will follow the rule of “Last in first out” but not all contracts of employment have this included, so it is important to check.
Alternatively, if your contract does not state “Last in first out” but the custom and practice in your workplace has been to apply this criteria in the past then again your employer should follow the rule. It will be for your employer to prove that the rule applies and that he has followed procedures fairly. If the rule applies and your employer does not follow it or if the procedures which do apply have not been followed by him then you can bring a claim for unfair dismissal.
There are certain legal rules which apply regarding how much employment service you must have to be eligible for redundancy payments. To be eligible for redundancy payments, you must have worked continuously for your employer for at least 2 years. The other criteria are that you must be 16 years or older (there is no upper age limit) and you must be in “insurable” employment under Social Welfare law (this is a very broad category of different types of jobs and covers virtually all types of paid work).
In deciding whether you have been in “continuous employment” for 2 years the law says that certain types of absences from work will not break the continuity of your employment. These are absences due to such things as taking maternity or parental leave, absence due to illness, holidays and so on. So if you were absent from work for some time due to say, an illness, this will not affect your eligibility for redundancy payments.
As with any dismissal, your employer must act reasonably when dismissing any employees in a redundancy situation. Your employer should consult with you before making the final decision and he should consider all options. This could include offering you alternative work.
As far as notice of redundancy is concerned, you are entitled to a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice of redundancy and this period goes up depending on the period of service. For example somebody with over 15 years’ service is entitled to 8 weeks notice.
If you are being made redundant then you are also entitled to paid time off work to look for a new job. This time off should be reasonable.
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